2 Kings 17:29-33 ESV

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

SYNCRETISM

The settlers who arrived had brought with them their religion and culture and introduced these to the people in the different villages in Samaria. The Sepharvites, in particular, had burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. But, they did not remove out the worship of Jehovah. Instead, they included him in the pantheon of gods to worship. And this mixed worship was very far from the true worship anymore. As v34,35 had declared, “To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.”

God is a jealous God. And His name shouldn’t be treated us equal to their gods. But in this Assyrian captivity, God had allowed it for He had used the Assyrians to chastise them. Somehow, this had served the purpose of God. As the psalmist had said,;
“Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;
the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.”[Psa 76:10]

Truth mixed with error is as a glass of mineral water with a drop of cyanide. The water may appear clean and harmless but it’s deadly. Let us seek, therefore to worship God with purity of our hearts. As David declared;
“For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”[Psa 51:16,17]

Today, there is only one acceptable sacrifice. It’s God’s way and provision. And we must not dillute it with anything or else it will be defiled. According to Heb 10:19-22, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”


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